I’ve been noticing more deer and antelope amidst the old roaming buffaloes at my favorite gun range, and they aren’t just playing either. Some of them appear to be practicing as if their lives depend upon it. And maybe, they’re right.

Also, more families, including young children, seem to be participating as well. At this point, some readers are probably aghast at this very notion. Imagine the terror of it all! Aren’t things already bad enough without introducing impressionable next generations to a culture of gun violence? What possible good can come of such irresponsible parental behavior?

So okay, I’ll tell you why I view things very differently. What I see are parents who are teaching their children true responsibility at early ages...fathers and mothers who are exposing sons and daughters to extremely stringent safety protocols which carry over into all other aspects of disciplined behavior. I see children who proudly recognize the trust parents place upon them to abide by demanding rules…satisfactions of earned confidence and accountability that will forever guide their lives. I see teaching and learning…skill-building and joys of accomplishment. Above all, I see parents who care, and children who truly know that.

My gun perceptions, probably much like yours, were shaped by early childhood experiences. A vivid recollection dating back more years than I wish to admit calls to mind a beautiful Daisy Red Ryder BB gun in the window of our local hardware store. It cost $4.95… a huge amount for my nine-year-old self to scrape together. A year or so of savings from raking neighbor leaves, mowing lawns and shoveling snow-drifted sidewalks still fell well short of the mark.

Then a miracle occurred in the form of a grandpa who came to visit. Couldn’t figure out why, but he suggested that we walk to town together…right past that very same hardware store…then stopped right there in front to admire how gorgeous that BB gun was, the one with a real wood stock and all. I sadly agreed, but told him that it would be quite awhile before I could afford it. He suggested that we go in and take a closer look anyway. When we left, if you can possibly believe it, I owned that wonderful boyhood treasure long before I ever expected. I was a very lucky and happy kid for sure.

Some people first became interested in guns much later in their lives, and for important reasons. As reported in a Daily Beast article, Paxton Quigley who worked in a public relations office did so after a Los Angeles friend called her with terrible news, confiding that a stranger had broken into a home bathroom window and brutally raped her. Her friend had called 911, but the police arrived a half hour too late to offer any help. When Paxton asked her “If you had a gun, do you think you could have stopped the attacker”, the answer was “yes”.

Soon afterwards, Paxton took a gun course, stating: “I had never shot a gun. I had never touched a gun. I was actually anti-gun. But I thought, this is never going to happen to me.”

That shooting experience first gave her a headache. She remembered, “I didn’t like the noise; I didn’t like the kick of the gun. I got home and fell into a deep sleep.” But then, “When I woke up, I felt so good…I knew how to shoot a gun.

She followed up with the purchase of a handgun, enrolling in a range of shooting and self-defense courses, teaching more than 7,000 other women to shoot, and writing four books about why women should arm themselves. Her most recent one, titled “Armed and Female: Taking Control”, discusses dozens of survivors of violence, including sexual assault. She concludes, “Almost all said they could have stopped the attack with a gun”, and that, “A woman will be anti-gun, but then once she’s assaulted, she wants a gun.”

And what if the rapist has a gun? Paxton argues: “Then you better shoot first”…but also, that “If you feel that you can’t use the gun, don’t own it.” Evidence I have been witnessing at the range suggests that many women are heeding that wise advice.